Effect of Nipa and Pineapple Fruit Pulp Combination with Arabic Gum on the Quality and Sensory Characteristics of Fruit Leather

This study aims to obtain the best treatment from combination of nipa and pineapple fruit pulp with arabic gum on the quality and sensory characteristics of fruit leather. The experimental method was a completely randomized design factorial with three repetitions. The first factor was the ratio of nipa and pineapple pulp namely B1 (75%: 25%), B2 (50%: 50%), and B3 (25%: 75%), while the second factor was arabic gum concentration namely G1 (1%) and G2 (1.2%). Analysis of variance and Duncan's New Multiple Range Test at 5% level were used to analyze the data statistically. The analysis results showed that the ratio of nipa and pineapple pulp significantly affected moisture, ash, fiber, and total sugar contents, as well as total dissolved solids, pH, and sensory test of color, flavor, taste, and texture of the fruit leather. Furthermore, the addition of arabic gum concentration significantly affected moisture, ash, fiber content, total dissolved solids, pH, and sensory test of fruit leather's flavor. Meanwhile, the interaction between these two factors significantly affected pH and fiber content of the fruit leather. The best treatment was B3G2 (25% nipa pulp: 75% pineapple pulp with 1.2% arabic gum concentration) with 12.83% moisture, 0.79% ash, 2.05% fiber, 21.21% total sugar content, 32.08 degrees brix total dissolved solids, and 4.51 pH. The descriptive test results showed that the fruit leather had yellow color (4.23), pineapple scented (3.93), sweet with a slightly sour taste (3.43), slightly chewy texture (3.90), and the hedonic overall assessment was favored by panelists (4.06).